


In Time and In Space

by heroictype (swanreaper)



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Fluff, M/M, weird time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-03
Updated: 2016-05-03
Packaged: 2018-06-06 03:59:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6737371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swanreaper/pseuds/heroictype
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Their anniversary is coming up, but how long have they been together, really? Maybe it's more important to look toward the future, and be certain that they have one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Time and In Space

Time wasn’t real, but that didn’t mean they could avoid it. A lot of things weren’t real, in the sense that there was no tangible way to touch them or track data associated with them. Pasta, the moon, the sound of rain. Love.

These things weren’t real, but that didn’t mean they didn’t matter. 

Cecil was watching Carlos. Cecil had explained, quietly, carefully, what he knew. He had also explained the gaps in that knowledge, as best as he understood them. He didn’t explain what he didn’t know, because, well, he didn’t know that, but he made it very clear that there were definitely a lot of things he didn’t know. Some of those were relevant to this situation. So he was sorry about that.

This was what Cecil said, or at least, how Carlos processed that information: Time in Night Vale wasn’t real, but they all had to live somehow. They had to progress, and they didn’t do it the way most humans would do it, in other parts of the world. Or maybe it was more a matter of what people did in other realities altogether. Most of Cecil’s knowledge came down to one thing, though: he was something else, even by Night Valean standards. Time stretched around him, played with him, put him where he needed to be.

The words came haltingly, as if Cecil had trouble getting a grip on them. He didn't like to think about it, or it was possible that he couldn't. But he could think about the scientist, and he often did. After the incident with the university, Cecil had begin to suspect that Carlos was now included in this arrangement, even though he hadn’t asked for it. Neither of them had asked for it, but Cecil couldn’t deny that it belonged to him.

So he asked Carlos, “You might be something else now, too. Are you okay with that?”

And he sat stiffly, with his fists braced against the table, as he waited for a reply.

Carlos looked down at his own hands. He thought about the typical features of aging, and tried to imagine them on himself - to superimpose liver spots and veins onto his fingers, to grow the strands of gray down from his temples. He was not very successful, but the idea didn’t bother him. When he thought about growing old now, he thought about doing it with Cecil, and he couldn’t mind that if he tried.

Then, he thought about not developing those features, at least, not for a while. He thought about living like this - really, just continuing as they were - and perceiving a linear experience without any measure definitively connected to reality. He had spent several years in Night Vale now, and he called it home.

That meant something. Carlos knew what it was, but not how to explain it scientifically. Still, he took Cecil’s hands in his, and placed them together at the center of the table. He arched an eyebrow deliberately, but he wasn’t actually very good at it, so both eyebrows - magnificent eyebrows - went up and he looked more surprised than anything. He went ahead and made his point, anyway.

“So what you’re saying is, essentially, we get more time together than, hm, average people would, even in Night Vale?”

Cecil arched an eyebrow back, and he was a little better at it, so the expression was properly pointed. “That’s one way of looking at it. But it can make thing a little fuzzy. Uneven? Unclear?”

“That, scientifically speaking, is life,” Carlos replied.

Cecil paused. He narrowed his eyes, and tightened his hands around Carlos, so that he could lean back in his chair without letting go.

“You’re taking this better than I thought you would. And here I thought my revelation would be dramatic,” he teased. “But then… I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. You know more about this, after all. The whole ‘life’ thing.”

“Well, I’ve spent most of _my_ life studying it, Ceec. So that’s normal, right?” Carlos shrugged, and traced his thumbs over Cecil’s knuckles. He was smiling, and when Cecil glanced up, he beamed. The radio host smiled back, giddy and grateful, just to be on the receiving end of that smile. Carlos felt that warmth fed back into him, mixing with the chemicals in his veins, and every bit as natural.

That was when Cecil really understood what Carlos meant by more time, but he let the scientist go on, anyway, because he wanted to hear it all, both the words and that voice bubbling with excitement.

Carlos said, “I like doing that. The studying. That’s science. So of course I’m fine with it! It means a greater-than-average time to learn - well, everything! All of it! The chemical components of pasta, figuring out what the moon actually is, determining what makes the sound of rain so calming… Oh, and learning why you’re so _cute_ when you do that thing you’re doing now, where you get flustered and tap your heel against whatever you’re sitting on.”

“What? Oh!” Instead of stopping, Cecil swung his foot farther forward and gently nudged his toes against Carlos’. “I’m sure that’s not that interesting, especially when there are so many other fascinating subjects…”

“Actually, Ceec, I think that one is my favorite, because you’re my favorite.” Carlos nodded firmly. “But then, I guess that answers my question. ‘Adorable’ is just one of your innate scientific properties. One of the many reasons why I will take all the time I can get with you, one lifetime or more.”

“Okay.” Cecil swallowed. That didn’t exactly feel adequate. He stared at their hands, joined in the center of the table. “I certainly have no objections. I just wanted to be sure. It didn’t seem fair to not… It’s something else, and I wanted to make sure you had a choice.”

“I know. That means a lot, and that’s part of why I made the choice I did.” Carlos tugged Cecil’s hands closer to him, so he could lean over the table and kiss the backs, along the knuckles. “All it is, is this: I already decided to stay in this space, and that’s not really so different from staying in this time. That’s all it is.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Just an idea that I've been toying with... I don't think either of them are immortal, but Carlos is part of Night Vale, and time isn't real in Night Vale. He and Cecil are going to be together for very, very, very long time.


End file.
